Three Instructional Design Blogs Worth Checking Out
⓵ Chris Collison's Blog: http://chriscollison.wordpress.com/
What do Einstein, the Beatles, and Confucius have in common? They all have unique perspectives of knowledge organization and management. Chris Collison is an independent knowledge management consultant and advisor with 17 years of experience. In addition to his recent series of knowledge management musings by great figures such as those previously mentioned and others like Da Vinci, Collison's blog is full of advice and research on developing knowledge management strategies, and sustaining communities of practice.
Being able to efficiently access and capitalize on collective knowledge is a big interest of mine at the workplace and in life in general. Not anyone of us knows everything. It is through the sharing of knowledge and being able to effectively tap into that shared resource that we truly can excel at our tasks and projects. As Collison's tag line suggests, “All of us are smarter than any of us...”.
Of particular interest to me is Collison's ability to make novel connections between things of popular culture and what might be learned from them with respect to knowledge management, building communities of practice, and learning in general. For example, read his post on the TV drama "Downtown Abbey". I appreciate this light-hearted and creative way of making a point. If your a Beatles fan, definitely check out his post on “How The Beatles Share Knowledge”.
⓶ E-Learning Provocateur: http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/
Being that I am a current grad student at Walden University and swimming in the confusing waters of Learning Theories I found Ryan Tracey's post on the "Taxonomy of Leaning Theories" to be a great find and very useful! In this post you will find a break down of the psychological schools of thought--Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Connectivism-- complete with research, opinion, humor, and visuals. Ryan Tracey is an E-Learning Manager at a financial services organisation in Australia, and author of the blog E-Learning Provocateur: provoking deeper thinking. How cool is that?! Read his about me page for other bio information.
I will definitely be following this blog not only for lessons on learning theory, but also Tracey's provocative commentary on the future of MOOCs. I am an big fan of MOOCs, and the idea of democratizing education. I appreciate Tracey's intelligent perspective on MOOCs and all things E-Learning. Check out his prediction of where MOOCs are headed in the "Future of MOOCs".
⓷ The eLearning Coach: http://theelearningcoach.com/
I do a great deal of design work in my current position, but mostly from an instructional technologist position. I use a variety of software such as Articulate. This blog has great posts on software tips for such programs, but also takes design advice to a more pedagogical level. Connie Malamed, author of the blog eLearning Coach, shares strategies and practical advice for how to intelligently design learning experiences in the digital modality. For instance, take a look at Ideas for Designing Non-linear eLearning. In this post, she exposes some of the issues with designing instruction in the conventional linear model, and offers an explanation of and practical use for non-linear design. I am thinking about checking out her book as well, Visual Language for Designers.
